Lift bolt door lock remote locking mechanism



J1me 1956 B. D. PRIESTMAN 2,751,242

LIFT BOLT DOOR LOCK REMOTE LOCKING MECHANISM F2 led Nov. 5, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet l :4 L 54 V a as A T TORNEYS June 19, 1956 B. D. PRIESTMANLIFT BOLT DOOR LOCK REMOTE LOCKING MECHANISM F1 led Nov. 5, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR fizz/4 1? flies/m2:

/ ATTORNEYS nite Patented June 19, 1956 2,751,242 LIFT BOLT DOOR LOCKREMOTE LOCKING MECHANISM Bewley D. Priestman, Livonia, Mich, assignor toGeneral Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of DelawareApplication November 5, 1952, Serial No. 318,851 8 Claims. (Cl. 292-229)This invention relates to a. door lock, and more particularly to anautomobile door lock.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a safety devicewhich will insure that the door of an automobile is closed and latchedproperly when the door is closed through force which is exerted throughthe inside door handle. The invention is applicable when conventionalturn handles are used, although the invention is particularly adaptedfor use when sliding door handles are used, and the invention istherefore illustrated in connection with a sliding door handle.

In a commonly used type of lock the lock bolt is pivoted on the lockframe and is cammed into latched position by means of a striker on thedoor pillar when the door is closed. A detent lever in the lockmechanism holds the latch bolt in its latched position, and in order torelease the latch to open the door the detent lever is pivoted by meansof force exerted either through an outside door opening mechanism orthrough the inside door handle. When the inside door handle is graspedto pull the door shut, it often happens that force is exertedinadvertently on the handle to pivot the detent lever to its releaseposition, in which event there is no means to hold the lock bolt inlatched position after it has been cammed into latched position by thestriker. Particularly if the door is slammed hard, the force of the doorwill very often cause the door to open, at least to its safety latchposition. If a sliding door handle is used, and if there is no separatepull-to device on the inner surface of the rovided with teeth, one ofwhich is shown at 30, which door, the sliding handle may be movedinadvertently during the closing operation to pivot the detent lever torelease position.

The invention provides a novel means for preventing lock actuation bythe inside door handle whenever the lock bolt is in released position,i. e., whenever the door is open, and also whenever the door is beingclosed so that the latch is cammed from release position to latchedposition while at the same time force is being exerted on F the insidedoor handle which would normally pivot the detent lever to its releaseposition and permit the latch to move back to its released position andthe door to open.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and from the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of an automobileinterior showing a portion of a door together with the door lock andinside door handle, parts being shown in one position in dotted linesand in another position in dash and dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a door lock incorporating the inventionand showing the position of the parts when the door is closed, the boltbeing in position where it is engaged with the striker, but the lockbeing unlocked so that the bolt can be released by actuation of theoutside control means or the inside handle;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarged view similar to a portion of Figure2, but with the bolt in released position aswhen the door is open, partsbeing broken away to show underlying structure;

Figure 4 is a section taken along the line 4--4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

A lock which is generally similar in construction and operation to thelock illustrated in Figure 2 is described in detail in the copendingapplication of James D. Leslie and Clyde H. Schamel entitled, Door Lock,filed November 28, 1947, as S. N. 788,534, which issued June 9, 1953, asPatent 2,641,495, and reference may be made to that disclosure for adetailed discussion of all of the operating parts of the lock, ifdesired. In this description the parts associated with the inventionwill be described in detail, and other operating parts of the lock willbe described more briefly.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, an automobile is providedwith a door which is hingedly mounted in conventional manner, not shownhere. As shown in Figures 1 and 5, the automobile body includes a doorpillar 11 which carries a striker comprising parts 12 and 13 secured byscrews on the pillar 11. The two spaced parts 12 and 13 have betweenthem a dog-leg channel with a portion 14 which extends inwardly from theoutside of the body and slightly upwardly, and a portion 15 whichextends upwardly at an acute angle to the vertical. The lower face ofthe channel is designated as 16 and the upper face is designated as 17.

The lock bolt is formed as a lever 18 pivoted to the lock frame 20 on apin 21. The body portion of the bolt is preferably a stamping, and thehead 22 is made of. a rolled section and is secured to the body of thebolt by rivets 23. A roller 24 is journaled on the free end of the slotbeing defined by a punched-in bolt head 22, and an outwardly facingflange 25 on the lock frame 20 is provided with a vertical slot in whichthe bolt head 22 swings vertically, the periphery of the flange 26.

A multiplier lever 28 is mounted upon the lock frame 20 beneath the bolt18, said lever being pivoted about a different axis than is the bolt 18.The lever 28 has an eccentric connection 29 with the bolt 18, and lever28 is are adapted to interengage a tooth 32 of a detent lever 34 whichis pivoted on the lock frame 20 on a pin 35. A coil spring 36 has oneend anchored to bolt 18 in an opening 37, and the other end anchored todetent lever 34 at 38 so that the spring 36 biases both bolt 18 anddetent lever 34 in a clockwise direction. The construction of the lockis such that when teeth and 32 are interengaged so that the bolt is heldin locked position as shown in Figure 2, a counterclockwise movement ofdetent lever 34 will free the multiplier lever 28 and the bolt 18 forpivotal movement to the released position shown in Figure 3 under theforce of spring 36. The construction and arrangement preferably is suchthat the only force necessary to operate detent lever 34 is a forcesufiicient to overcome the friction between the engaging faces of theteeth 30 and 32 without swinging multiplier lever 28 in acounterclockwise direction.

In order to operate the lock from outside the automobile door a pushbutton (not shown) is provided, and

means are provided to release the lock when the push button is actuated.The means for operating the lock from the outside, which means are morefully described in application S. N. 788,534, comprises a longitudinallyshiftable device designated generally as 40, having at its free end alug 41 which is adapted to engage a lug 42 on an upstanding arm 43 of.the detent lever 34 to pivot said detent lever in a counfterclockwisedirection when the outside push button is actuated. This outsideoperating means also includes a member 45 by means of which the outsidedoor opening mechanism may be rendered inoperative through an insidegarnish molding button 50.

The mechanism 40 is not only longitudinally shiftable, but is alsopivotal and when pivoted to locked or out of the way position the lug 41is swung downwardly so that upon longitudinal shifting of the mechanism40 the lug 41 does not engage, but moves freely past, the lug 42 on thedetent lever 34. In order to lock the door from the inside the garnishmolding button 58 is connected by means of an actuating rod51 to anolfset portion 54 of a locking lever 52, which is pivotally mounted onthe lock frame by means of a stud 53. In addition to the offset portion54 to which the actuating rod 51 is connected the lever 52 has lugportions 55 and 56 which engage opposite sides of the arm 54, so thatwhen the garnish molding button 50 is psuhed down the locking lever 52is pivoted in a clockwise direction to pivot the outside operatingmechanism 40 to its out of the way or locked position. When the garnishmolding button Sit is pulled up the locking lever 52 pivots in acounterclockwise direction to return the parts to the position of Figure2 where the outside push button is effective to release the lock bolt.

Means are also provided to unlatch the door from the inside. While aturn handle of conventional type may be provided on the inside of thedoor 11 if desired, the present invention is particularly adapted'foruse with a sliding door handle for reasons that will hereinafter appear,and therefore a sliding door handle is illustrated in Figure 1. Thishandle may be of the type disclosed in the copending application ofFrederick G. Phinney and Everett B. Arnold, Jr., entitled, Sliding DoorHandle, filed September 26, 1952 as S. N. 311,722 now Patent No.2,769,102. The door handle comprises a slidably mounted handle member 58which is movable between the positions shown in solid lines and brokenlines in Figure l, sliding movement of the handle 58 from its solid lineposition to its dotted line position causing pivotal movement of a link59 between the two positions shown in Figure l to move an actuating rod61 axially to release the door from the inside.

Referring particularly to Figures 2 and 3, the actuating rod 60 isconnected to an ofiset portion 61 of an actuating lever designatedgenerally as 62. This lever is formed as a bell crank and is pivotallymounted on the lock frame 20 on the stud 53. The free arm 63 of theactuating lever 62 carries a lug 64 (Figure 3) which engages an car 66projecting from the detent lever 34. When the actuating rod 60 isshifted axially to the left to pivot the actuating lever in a clockwisedirection the detent lever 34 will be pivoted in a counterclockwisedirection to release the multiplier lever 28 and the lock bolt 18.

The invention comprises an improvement in the structure and operation ofthe lock above described, which improvement resides in means forpreventing operation of the inside door handle when the lock bolt is inreleased position and also when the door is being closed by forceexerted through the handle 58. In the structure as described above, whenthe door is eloscd from the inside and the closing force is appliedthrough the inside door handle 58 it sometimes happens that force isapplied not only to pull the door closed, but also to shift theactuating rod 60 axially so that the detent lever 34 is pivoted to anout of the way position. When this happens and the door is closed theroller 24 on the end of the bolt enters the striker channel 14 and thebolt is cammed from the released position of Figure 3 to the lockedposition of Figure 2 by the face 16 of the keeper member 12, thiscumming action'being illustrated in Figure 5. However, since the detentlever 34 is held in out of the way or look release position during thiscamming action, there are no means for holding the lock bolt 18 in itslocked position and the rebound force, particularly when the door isslammed, may cause the door to pop open, at least to its safety catchposition. This action may occur whether a turn handle is used or whethera sliding door handle of the type illustrated in Figure l is used, butis more likely to occur with a sliding handle. When a turn handle isused, it is conventional practice to provide a separate pull-to deviceon the door so that it is not necessary to close the door by graspingthe turn handle. However, when a sliding door handle of the typeillustrated in Figure l is used, the handle will not twist in the graspof the operator, and therefore, it is not necessary to provide aseparate pull-to device, and the handle itself normally is grasped inorder to close the door from the inside.

The invention provides a novel means for preventing actuation of thelever 62 when the door is open and also when the door is being closedfrom the inside. As shown in Figure 4 a spacer washer 79 is mounted onthe pin 21 adjacent the lock bolt 18, and a control lever 71 and a hooklever 72 are both pivotally mounted on said pin, a drum 7?- being fixedto the pin 21 at the free end thereof to prevent the removal of thepivotally mounted parts and to provide a mounting device for springmeans as hereinafter described. The hook lever 72 has at its free end ahook 74 adapted to engage a shoulder 61a of the lever 62, and the hooklever 72 is spring biased in a clock: wise direction by a spring 75which is mounted on the drum 73 and which has one end anchored on a tab76 on the lever 72 and the other end anchored on a tab 77 on the controllever 71. The hook lever 72 is also provided with a tab '78 for abuttingan offset shoulder on the lock frame 20 to limit counterclockwisepivotal movement of the hook lever 72, and an offset portion 80 on saidlever terminates in a shoulder 81 which engages a cooperating shoulder82 provided by an car 83 on the control lever '71. The control lever hasat its opposite end 85 a shoulder portion 36 adapted to abut a shoulder87 on the lock bolt 18.

The control lever 71 is biased in a counterclockwise direction by meansof a spring 88 which is mounted on the drum 73 and which has one endanchored on the tab 77 on the control lever and the other end anchoredin the opening 37 on the lock bolt 18. The spring 88 is stronger thanthe spring 75 so that the counterclockwise bias on the control leverovercomes the clockwise bias on the hook lever 72, and therefore, thelevers 71 and 72 assume the position shown in Figure 2 where the hook 74is out of path of the movement of the shoulder 61a of the actuatinglever 62. With the parts in this position the inside door handle 58 maybe grasped and operated to move the actuating rod 60 axially to open thedoor from the inside, movement of the actuating rod 60 causingcounterclockwise pivotal movement of the detent lever 34 in the mannerabove described to permit the bolt 18 to pivot in a clockwise directionunder the force ofthc spring 36 to released position. The releasedposition of the bolt 18 is shown in Figure 3, wherein it may be seenthat the clockwise pivotal movement of the bolt 18 brings the shoulder87 into abutment with the shoulder '86 on the control lever 71, so thatthe control lever 71 pivots in a clockwise direction against the forceof the spring 88.- The hook lever 72 follows the movement of the controllever in a clockwise direction under the force of the spring 75. i

Thus when the latch is released the parts assume'th position of Figure3, wherein the hook 74 of the hook lever 72 is in the path of movementof the shoulder 61a of the actuating lever 62. When the inside handle isreleased the actuating lever 62 is cammed in a counterclockwisedirection to the position shown in Figures 2 and 3 by the force of thespring 36 acting through the detent lever 34, engagement of the car 66on said detent lever with the tab 64 on the actuating lever 62 causingthis movement. During counterclockwise movement of the lever 62 the hooklever 72 is'cammed in a counterclockwise direction to permit passage ofthe shoulder'fla past the hook 74. v

With the parts in the position of Figure 3itwill be seen that operationof the locking lever 62 is prevented by the hook 74. Therefore, if theinside door handle 58 is grasped in order to close the door from theinside, the locking lever 62 will be held against clockwise pivotalmovement by the hook 74 even though axial force be exerted on theactuating rod 60. Once the door has been closed and the inside handle isreleased so that pressure is taken ofi the hook 74 the spring 88 causesthe control lever 71 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction, and thehook lever 72 is carried in a counterclockwise direction to the positionof Figure 3 by engagement of the shoulder 82 on the control lever withthe shoulder 81 on the hook lever.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it iscapable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the constructionand arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A door lock of the character described, including: a lock boltmovable between latched and released position; actuating means forreleasing said bolt, including an actuating lever; a handle foroperating said actuating lever; a hook lever adapted to engage saidactuating lever when the bolt is in released position for preventingoperation of said bolt by said handle; first spring means urging saidhook lever toward said actuating lever; a control lever having ashoulder engaging said hook lever; second spring means operative throughsaid control lever to move said hook lever away from said actuatinglever when the bolt is in latched position, said second spring meansbeing stronger than said first spring means; and shoulder means on saidbolt adapted to engage said control lever and to move said control leveragainst the force of said second spring means when the bolt moves toreleased position, said hook lever moving into position to engage saidactuating lever under the force of said first spring means.

2. Apparatus of the character claimed in claim 1, wherein said hooklever has a hook portion adapted to be engaged by said actuating leverwhen force is exerted on said actuating lever through said handle and toremain in engagement until such force is released.

3. A door lock of the character described, including: a bolt movablebetween latched and released positions, detent means for holding saidbolt in latched position, actuating means including an actuating leverfor moving said detent means to free the bolt for movement from latchedto released position, control means mounted for movement between aninoperative position and an operative position in which the controlmeans engages and prevents movement of said actuating lever, meansholding said control means in operative position whenever the bolt is inreleased position and said actuating lever is in its normal inoperativeposition, and means holding said control means in inoperative positionwhenever the bolt is in latched position, said control means at alltimes permitting movement of the bolt between latched and releasedpositions.

4. A door lock of the character described, including: a movable bolt,detent means for holding the bolt in latched position, actuating meansfor moving said detent means to free the bolt for movement from latchedto released position, a first control lever mounted for movement betweenan inoperative position and an operative position in which it rendersthe actuating means ineffective to move the detent means, a secondcontrol lever having means holding said first control lever in operativeposition whenever the bolt is in released position and said actuatingmeans is in its normal inoperative position, and spring means holdingsaid control levers in inoperative position whenever the bolt is inlatched position, said control levers at all times permitting movementof the bolt between latched and released positions.

5. A door lock of the character described, including: a movable bolt,detent means for holding the bolt in latched position, actuating meansfor moving said detent means to free the bolt for movement from latchedto released position, a first control lever mounted for move- .entbetween an inoperative position and an operative position in which saidfirst control lever renders the actuating means ineffective to move thedetent means when said actuating means is in its normal inoperativeposition, a second control lever having means engaging said first leverwhen said bolt is in latched position to hold said first lever ininoperative position, and yieldable means between said first and secondcontrol levers tensioned by said second control lever for moving saidfirst lever to its operative position when said bolt is in its releasedposition.

6. A door lock of the character described, including: a movable bolt,detent means for holding the bolt in latched position, actuating meansfor moving said detent means to free the bolt for movement from latchedto released position, a first control lever mounted for movement betweenan inoperative position and an operative position in which said firstcontrol lever renders the actuating means inefiective to move the detentmeans, a second control lever having a shoulder engaging said firstlever when said bolt is in latched position to maintain said first leverin inoperative position, and spring means between said first and secondcontrol levers and tensioned by said second control lever to move saidfirst lever to its operative position when said bolt is in its releasedposition.

7. A door lock of the character described, including: a movable bolt,detent means for holding the bolt in latched position, actuating meansfor moving said detent means to free the bolt for movement from latchedto released position, a first control lever mounted for movement betweenan inoperative position and an operative position in which said firstcontrol lever renders the actuating means ineffective to move the detentmeans, a second control lever having a shoulder engaging said firstlever when said bolt is in latched position to maintain said first leverin its inoperative position, means on said bolt engaging said secondlever and to move said second lever to a position where it is operativeto hold said first lever in its inoperative position when said bolt isin its released position, and yieldable means connected between saidfirst and second levers and tensioned by said second lever when saidbolt is in its released position to move said first lever to itsoperative position when said bolt is in its released position.

8. A door lock of the character described, including: a movable bolt,detent means for holding the bolt in latched position, actuating meansfor moving said detent means to free the bolt for movement from latchedto released position, a first control lever mounted for movement betweenan inoperative position and an operative position in which said firstcontrol lever renders the actuating means ineffective to move the detentmeans, a second control lever having a shoulder engaging said firstlever when said bolt is in latched position to maintain said first leverin its inoperative position, shoulder means on said bolt engaging saidsecond lever to move said second lever with its shoulder to a positionwhere it is inoperative to hold said first lever in its inoperativeposition when said bolt is in its released position, and spring meansbetween said first and second levers tensioned by said second lever whensaid bolt is in its released position to move said first lever to itsoperative position when said bolt is in its released position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,302,409 Wells Nov. 17, 1942 2,569,042 Endter Sept. 25, 1951 2,603,516Roethel July 15, 1952 2,637,580 Roethel May 5, 1953 2,641,495 Leslie etal. June 9, 1953

